Track guided tray used in a mechanism for opening envelopes

ABSTRACT

A machine for opening envelopes chemically which automatically loads a number of pre-treated envelopes onto a specially constructed tray; applies a developing solution thereto; and mechanically separates those areas of the envelopes which have been treated to open the envelopes.

United States Patent Berger Sept. 2, 1975 TRACK GUIDED TRAY USED IN A1,874,950 8/1932 Forsyth 206/73 MECHANISM FOR OPENING ENVELOPES2,087,249 7/1937 Fitch 104/172 C X 3,456,825 7/1969 Lacoe 206/74 Xlnvemorl Richard g Yonkers, NY 3,661,095 5/1972 Pate et al. 104/172 BAssigneez Thor Dahl, Inc, New York, N Y. 3,662,906 5/1972 Christensen104/172 BT X 1 Fl e 3 Primary Examiner-M. Henson Wood, Jr.

[21] Appl. No.: 418,085 Assistant ExaminerRandolph A. Reese Related US.Application Data Division of Ser. No. 262,762, June 14, 1972, Pat. No.3,815,325.

US. Cl 104/172 B; 108/54', 108/55;

206/74 Int. Cl. B611) 13/12 Field of Search 104/172 R, 172 B, 172 BT,

[56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 465,465 12/1891 Doan 206/74X Attorney, Agent, 0r Firm-Holland, Armstrong, Wilkie & Previto Amachine for opening envelopes chemically which automatically loads anumber of pre-treated envelopes onto a specially constructed tray;applies a developing solution thereto; and mechanically separates thoseareas of the envelopes which have been treated to open the envelopes.

ABSTRACT 1 Claim, 16 Drawing Figures mgm gsw. aims 3,902,429

sum 3 Of 9 PATENTEE 35F 2 i975 SHEET 8 [IF 9 rildflr rrvllflllt A A A av a 4 4/ SHEET 7 BF 9 wqmm TRACK GUIDED TRAY USED IN A MECHANISM FOROPENING ENVELOPFB DESCRIPTION The opening of envelopes which arereceived in large quantities by advertisers, publishers, etc. has becomean increasingly expensive and time consuming problem. Manual methods ofopening such envelopes are tedious and require expensive and timeconsuming efforts which increases the costs. In some advertising andmailback campaigns, literally thousands of reply envelopes are receivedwhich take an inordinate amount of time to open and which require alarge staff of letter openers to process.

There are automatic letter openers presently being used but it isbelieved that most of them comprise mechanical methods for opening theenvelopes. One letter-opening method that has been recently developedcomprises the chemical deterioration of three sides of the envelope tofacilitate opening. Such a process involves the treatment of the edgesof a standard envelope with a chemical. This first chemical ischemically activated by an additional developing chemical so as todeteriorate the paper along the edges. Thus, the sheets of the envelopealongthe treated edges can be separated by mild mechanical action.

It will be recognized that even such a chemical envelope-opening systemwould be time consuming if each envelope were to be processedindividually.

The present invention avoids this problem and has for one of its objectsthe provision of a mechanism for permitting large numbers of envelopesto be chemically opened.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improvedmechanism for chemically opening envelopes which automatically moves abatch of envelopes through a machine so that very little, if any, manualprocessing is required.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improvedtray mechanism for transporting the envelopes through the processingunit.

Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon anunderstanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described orwill be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages notreferred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employmentof the invention in practice;

A preferred embodiment of the'invention' has been. chosen for purposesof illustration and description and is shown in the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part of the specification, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic flow chart showing the man ner in which a groupof envelopes may be processed by the machine of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view of the units which are used in the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the units used in thepresent invention including the improved tray and the processing tunnelmember;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the processing tunnel member when thedoors areclosed in its operative position; t

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5--5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a top view of the improved tray of the present invention; h

FIG. 7 is a side view of the improved tray shown in FIG. 6; t I I FIG. 8is a rear end view of the improved tray shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the processing tunnel showing the mannerof spraying the developing solution onto the tray of envelopes;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view along line 1010 of FIG. 5 showing the dryingof the envelopes;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of the processing tunnel showing theinfra-red curing section;

FIG. 12 is a sectional view along line 12-12 of FIG. 5 showing thebrushes for separating the sheets of the envelopes that have beentreated;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing the blower system of theprocessing tunnel; v

FIG. 14 is a perspectiveview showing the filters for the blower system;

FIG. 15 is an end view of the blower system; and

FIG. 16 is a block diagram diagrammatically showing the control systemfor the mechanism of the present invention.

Referring to the drawings and more particularly to FIG. 3, the envelope1 which is to be processed by the present invention is a standardenvelope and has rear and front panels 2 and 3. The rear panel 3 may beformed from the usual flaps 4, which are adhered to each other as iswell known in the art. The areas adjacent some of the edges of bothpanels 2 and 3 are pretreated with a chemical. In. the embodiment ofFIG. 3, the pre-treated areas 5 and 6 are along the top edge and bothend edges of the envelope. It will be understood, of course,.that thepre-treated areas may be along all four edges or anyportion of the edges5 and 6without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

In accordance with the present invention, the pretreated envelope 1 isloaded onto a tray 10 with a number of other envelopes and, as shown inFIG. 1, the tray 10 moves through a processing tunnel member 30 whichprocesses the envelopes. First, an acid, or some otherdevelopingchemical, is sprayed or otherwise applied to thepre-treatededges 5 and 6 in the spraying section A so that thedeveloping chemical reacts with the chemical in the pre-treated areas tostart deteriorating the paper of the envelope panels 2 and 3.

The tray 10 is then moved through a drying section B where the wetdeveloping acid is dried, preferably by forced hot air. Next, the tray10 is moved to a curing section C of the processing tunnel where thedeveloped pre-treated areas 5 and 6 are cured by heat in order toaccelerate the paper deteriorating process. After this has beenaccomplished, the tray moves through aseparation section D where the twopanels 2 and 3 are separated from each by as mechanical action to openthe envelope. Finally, the envelope moves to the vacuum section E whereany loosefibers and dust are removed.

The processing tunnel 30 comprises front and rear end walls 31 withdoors 32 hingedly mounted thereon at 34 to swing downwardly. The frontand rear walls 31 have openings 33 therein in order to allow a tray 10loaded with envelopes l to be moved therethrough. The processing tunnel30 comprises a series of sections having mechanisms for performing thefunctions outlined above, as will be described in greater detailhereinbelow.

The processing tunnel comprises a motor assembly 35 which is connectedby gears 36 and 37 to a drive chain 38. The drive chain 38 has a driveteeth 39 extending outwardly therefrom which engage a drive arm 24depending from the tray in order to move the tray 10 through theprocessing tunnel 30. A plurality of microswitch assemblies 40a, 40b and400 are provided in the path of the tray 10 which are tripped by thetray 10 as it moves along in order to enable the various mechanisms tofunction only when the tray is in the proper position.

In order to be certain that the doors 32 are closed before any of themechanisms operate, a microswitch assembly 41 is mounted on the rear andfront walls 31. These microswitches 41 are adapted to be tripped by theclosing of the doors 32. The closing of a circuit by these twomicroswitches 41 together with the closing of microswitch 40a by thetray 10 will close the circuit to enable the mechanisms to operate thuspreventing operation until the doors 32 are closed and the tray 10 is inthe proper position.

A solenoid operate stop 43 is mounted adjacent in the path of the fronttab 17 of the tray 10 in order to prevent the tray 10 from movingthrough the tunnel 30. The stop 43 is lowered out of the path of thetray by energizing the solenoid 44 with the closing of the threeswitches 41 and 40a.

The front and rear walls 31 of the tunnel 30 each have entrance and exitopenings 33 therein. The lower portions of the entrance and exitopenings have expanded lower control slots 45. These control slots 45prevent the tray 10 from being admitted into the tunnel 30 until suchtime as the envelopes 1 are properly in position in the tray 10 and theenvelope-retaining side walls 20 of the tray 10 are in the upwardposition. If the retaining walls 20 were in their lowered position, theywould not fit through the slots 45 so as to prevent the tray fromentering the tunnel 30.

The tray 10 comprises a bottom wall 11 having carriage member 19therebeneath with spaced downwardly extending flanges 12 with wheels 13thereon. A centering assembly 23 depending from carriage member 19 ispresent with aligning bars 26 movable between aligning plates 27 in thetunnel 30 to prevent the tray 10 from lateral movement. A bottom portionof centering assembly 23 is adapted to actuate the switches 40a, 40b and40c as the tray 10 passes thereover.

A pivotally mounted finger 24 pivoted at 25 is adapted to be engaged bythe drive mechanism finger 39 on the chain 38 in order to move the tray10 along the tunnel 30. The downwardly extending finger 24 is pivotallymounted at 25 for movement in one direction only so that it can pivotover obstructions in the path of the tray 10 but remains rigid whenforce is applied from the rear by the drive finger 39.

A front wall assembly 14 is provided which acts as a stop for theenvelopes l. A rear wall assembly 15 is movable relative to the frontwall 14 along guide bars 16 so that a number of envelopes can be mountedin the tray and moved to a substantially upward position by forwardmovement of the rear wall 15. The rear wall 15 is adapted to be lockedin place by a handle mechanism 18 pivoted at 19 which has toe 18a andheel 18b to lock it in place when moved in a downward position and whichreleases wall 15 when moved in an upward position.

The side walls 20 of the tray are pivotally mounted at 21 to a frontplate 22 on the downwardly extending flanges 12 so that when they are inthe upward position they will hold the envelopes in place to preventtransverse movement and when walls 20 are in the downward position theyprevent the tray from being inserted in the processing tunnel 30, as wasexplained in greater detail hereinabove.

The tray 10 is first moved through the spraying section A where sprayheads are provided which spray the three sides of the envelope 1 with adeveloping or activating solution from a reservoir 51 through piping 52,as shown in FIG. 9. This reacts with the chemicals in the pre-treatedareas 5 and 6 to start deterioration of the edges of the panels 2 and 3.

The tray 10 is then moved through the drying section B, shown in FIG.10, which applies forced warm air against the envelopes by means of amanifold 55 which directs air from source 56 into the drying section Bthrough openings 57. Baffles 58 may be provided along the top and sideedges in order to force the warm air immediately against the edges ofthe envelopes 1 before the air cools.

After the spray is dried, the tray 10 is moved through a plurality ofheaters 60 (FIG. 11) which cure the activated edges 5 and 6 of envelopes1 so that the deterioration of the paper is insured. After curing, thetray 10 is moved through the separation section D which includes a pairof vertical brushes 62 to brush lightly along the end edges 6 of theenvelopes 1 and a top horizontal brush 63 to brush against the top edge5 of the envelopes 1. These are driven by motor 35 through gear assembly65 and 64. The mechanical action from the rotating brushes 62 and 63separates the panels 2 and 3 of the envelopes 1 whose areas 5 and 6 havebeen previously deteriorated by chemical treatment, as described above.

Since the deterioration of the panels and the mechanism action ofseparation may create loose fibers, lint, etc., vacuum means areprovided in the vacuum section E to remove these loose fibers, etc. Thevacuum means 70, as shown in FIGS. 13, 14 and 15, comprise a suctionmechanism 71 which sucks out lint and fibers and any other loose paperthrough openings 72 in the tunnel and directs it through a filter 73which preferably is removable and replaceable. Heavier dust, etc. willfall onto a settling tray 74.

The tray 10 is then removed from a machine and an operator may releasethe envelope by moving the lock handle mechanism 18 upwardly and removethe contents from the separated panels of the envelopes.

It will, therefore, be seen that the present invention comprises amechanism for permitting large numbers of envelopes to be chemicallyopened automatically, which automatically moves a batch of envelopesthrough a machine so that very little, if any, manual processing isrequired and provides an improved tray mechanism for transporting theenvelopes through the processing unit. 7

As many and varied modifications of the subject matter of this inventionwill become apparent to those skilled in the art from the detaileddescription given hereinabove, it will be understood that the presentinvention is limited only as provided in the claims appended hereto.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim:

with a movable rear follower plate to hold the envelope in an uprightposition, locking means to lock the follower plate in position, saidfollower plate adapted to move in tracks on the tray, said lockingmechanism being a pivoted lever having a toe and a heel, a U- shapedelement extending downwardly from the tray,

one of said walls being mounted on the element.

1. A tray for envelopes comprising a base and a pair of side walls,wheels depending from the base, and a drive finger depending therefrom,said finger pivotally mounted for movement in one direction, the sidewalls of the tray being pivotally mounted for movement from an upwardenvelope-engaging position to an envelope-releasing position, said trayhaving an aligning mechanism depending therefrom, said tray beingprovided with a movable rear follower plate to hold the envelope in anupright position, locking means to lock the follower plate in position,said follower plate adapted to move in tracks on the tray, said lockingmechanism being a pivoted lever having a toe and a heel, a U-shapedelement extending downwardly from the tray, one of said walls beingmounted on the element.